Chickpea Mac and "Cheese"

Name: Chickpea Mac and "Cheese"
Prep time: 15 min
Cook time: 10 min
Total time: 25 min
Yield: 8
Ingredients: 450 g macaroni; ¼ cup olive oil, divided; 1 onion, chopped; 1 carrot, chopped; 1 ¼ cups no-salt-added chickpeas, drained and rinsed; 1 cup frozen diced butternut squash; 1 ¼ tsp salt; 2 tbsp lemon juice

Prep Time15 mins
Total Time25 mins
Makes8 servings

Photo: Erik Putz

A creamy, vegan mac and cheese is so easy to make. This one uses chickpeas and butternut squash to create the perfect orange sauce.

Ingredients

450 g macaroni
¼ cup olive oil, divided
1 onion, chopped
1 carrot, chopped
1 ¼ cups no-salt-added chickpeas, drained and rinsed
1 cup frozen diced butternut squash
1 ¼ tsp salt
2 tbsp lemon juice

Instructions

Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil and cook pasta following package directions. Reserve 2 cups pasta water before draining. Return pasta to pot.
Heat 2 tbsp oil in a large frying pan over medium. Add onion and carrot, and cook until softened, 6 min. Add chickpeas, squash, salt and 1 cup pasta cooking water. Bring to a simmer and cook until carrots and squash are tender, 4 min.
Transfer vegetables to a blender and add lemon juice, remaining 2 tbsp oil and ½ cup pasta water. Purée until smooth. Add sauce to pasta, stirring to coat. Stir in up to ½ cup more pasta water until smooth and saucy.

Nutrition (per serving)

Calories 322, Protein 11g, Carbohydrates 54g, Fat 8g, Fibre 4g, Sodium 623mg.

Tip

Frozen diced butternut squash is a huge time saver and convenient to keep on hand, plus it's a great way to sneak more veggies into dinner.

Originally published in the May + June 2018 issue. Photo by Erik Putz.

This article was originally published on May 04, 2018

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